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Friday Night Lights for Colorado State-Colorado football game

CSU's opener with CU moved to Friday, Aug. 29

By Mike Brohard

Sports Editor

Posted:
04/03/2014 04:39:20 PM MDT

The Rocky Mountain Showdown has been moved to Friday, Aug. 29 in a joint announcement made by Colorado and the Pac-12 on Thursday. It is the earliest date the in-state rivarly has been played. (Kathryn Scott Osler / THE DENVER POST)

FORT COLLINS — The Rocky Mountain Showdown will now be played under the lights of Friday night.

In a joint announcement Thursday between Colorado and the Pac-12, the in-state rivalry game has been moved to Friday night to attract a national audience through either an ESPN or FOX channel.

The game will have an evening kickoff, though a time has not been announced. It marks the first time the rivalry has been played on a Friday night, now covering every day of the week except for Tuesday. It is the second time Colorado State has played on a Friday — traditionally a night for high school football — losing to Wyoming the day after Thanksgiving in 2009.

Colorado State coach Jim McElwain understands the game will conflict with the first big night of high school football in the state, but he said it's a great way to start the Labor Day weekend.

"I think it's an outstanding way to kickoff a holiday weekend," McElwain said after Thursday's practice. "We do a game there and people can catch that on Friday. I think it's exciting, and still have the full weekend to get out and enjoy the great things that there are in Colorado."

This marks the ninth August game in the program's history, and the date matches the second-earliest day the Rams have played. They opened the 2002 season on the road against Virginia on Aug. 22 in the Jim Thorpe Classic. The Rams also played Michigan State on Aug. 29 back in 1998.

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Colorado State is 6-2 in August dates, 1-2 against Colorado. This will mark the 20th consecutive meeting between the two teams, the 86th overall. The Buffs hold a 26-21-2 advantage.

There won't be much television traffic that night for major college football fans to battle, with just three other games scheduled that day — BYU at Connecticut, Bowling Green at Western Kentucky and UNLV at Arizona.